It’s also relative to your experience. The better days of the 50s and 60s before the mentioned decline wasn’t all that create for all groups in the US. And I say that as a descendant of the group that is pictured as experiencing this optimal period of time (white, middle class, suburbia). Underneath this wholesome prosperity was still class struggles, racism, and injustice.
But… we were doing better than before, and that’s something. It could have continued to spread to others. The 70s were definitely a turning point where we took the worse path and left many potentials behind.
Agree and agree. And social conformity was a hell of an obnoxious boss for just about anyone, during those more prosperous years. (anyone remember the “Mister Bumble” educational videos?)
I have a working theory that when people talk about ‘America being great,’ what they’re mostly longing for is a ~40yr stretch, from approximately the mid-1930’s to the last vestiges of such, around the mid-1970’s. I.e. when there was a healthy, social safety net, Americans were seen as ‘heroes’ by much of the world, and there was a post-war economic boom.
It’s also relative to your experience. The better days of the 50s and 60s before the mentioned decline wasn’t all that create for all groups in the US. And I say that as a descendant of the group that is pictured as experiencing this optimal period of time (white, middle class, suburbia). Underneath this wholesome prosperity was still class struggles, racism, and injustice.
But… we were doing better than before, and that’s something. It could have continued to spread to others. The 70s were definitely a turning point where we took the worse path and left many potentials behind.
Agree and agree. And social conformity was a hell of an obnoxious boss for just about anyone, during those more prosperous years. (anyone remember the “Mister Bumble” educational videos?)
I have a working theory that when people talk about ‘America being great,’ what they’re mostly longing for is a ~40yr stretch, from approximately the mid-1930’s to the last vestiges of such, around the mid-1970’s. I.e. when there was a healthy, social safety net, Americans were seen as ‘heroes’ by much of the world, and there was a post-war economic boom.